CFPB Takes Further Steps to Suppress Consumer Complaints

June 25, 2026 — Press Release

New Actions Targeted at Discouraging People from Challenging the Big Three Credit Reporting Companies 

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched a new broadside against its own consumer complaint database, making it increasingly difficult for people to seek help from the CFPB and shifting resources to discouraging people from disputing errors on their credit reports. 

In its announcement Wednesday, the CFPB said it will require people to establish their identity with both a mobile phone and an email address before they are allowed to report the abusive actions of a large corporation. The CFPB also suggested it would pursue individuals who had “abused” the complaint system. The CFPB did not provide any information as to how it would distinguish “abuse” from legitimate concerns or any evidence to support its allegation of supposed widespread abuse.

“The Trump administration’s CFPB, at the behest of the credit reporting companies, is deliberately creating barriers for people to report illegal and abusive actions by large financial companies,” said Diane Thompson, deputy director and chief advocacy officer of the National Consumer Law Center. “The CFPB was created to protect consumers, not corporations, and should return to that mission.”

Credit reporting complaints are by far the biggest source of complaints to the CFPB, accounting for about 85 percent of all complaints, with consumers often describing problems with incorrect information. The consumer agency received more than 5.8 million complaints about credit and consumer reporting companies in 2025, doubling the complaint volume of the previous year.. These errors can drive up costs across every aspect of their financial lives.

In February, the CFPB also took steps to reduce the number of consumer complaints, sending aggressive warnings to people attempting to add a complaint to the database telling them not to submit a credit reporting complaint unless a dispute had already been formally filed with the credit reporting company. The notices, which went live on February 4, also require people to agree to onerous and legally dubious statements about their eligibility to seek help. The notices are not limited to complaints about credit reporting errors and appear before people can submit their requests for help for any financial issue ranging from mortgages to debt collection.

“The CFPB should be doing its job to make it easier for people to get help, not throwing new obstacles in their path,” said Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting and data advocacy and acting co-director of federal advocacy at NCLC. “It should be focusing on the abuses of the credit reporting oligopoly, not acting in cahoots with it.” 

Related Resources

• Press Release: CFPB Takes Steps to Reduce the Number of People Who Seek Help from the Consumer Agency, Feb. 9, 2026